ERIC EJ1068850: Some Formulas and Methods for the Effective Teaching of Verbal Concord (in Non-Native English Settings)

2013·0.16 MB·English

by  ERIC

RESEARCH PAPERS
SOME FORMULAS AND METHODS FOR THE EFFECTIVE TEACHING
OF VERBAL CONCORD (IN NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SETTINGS)
By
STEVE BODE EKUNDAYO
Department of English and Literature, University of Benin, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the incidence of verbal concord rule violation in educated Nigeria ESL against the conceptual
framework of interference and 'intraference'. Intraference is a coinage for the 'overgeneralization of linguistic material
and semantic features' or 'intralingual interference'. The paper is basically intuitively theoretical and descriptive. Library
research, the Internet, observation and recording of some linguistic events by educated Nigerians were used as sources
of data collection. To achieve the effective teaching, learning, and use of verbal concord in ESL and EFL, formula
N+s/S+s =V-s or N-s/S-s = V+s is proposed and illustrated with graded steps. The three major steps of the formula are (i)
the explanation and application of the formula symbols, (ii) categorized teaching and learning of English plurality and
(iii) explanation with illustration of the structural dynamics of English that constrain non-native users to produce verbal
concord errors. This formula may be used to correct concord errors and enhance concord teaching and learning.
Keywords: Verbal Concord, Concord Formula, ESL, Ene, Interference, Intraference.
INTRODUCTION
diplomacy and lingua franca; for example, Ghana, South
In non-native English settings, to achieve native English Africa, and Nigeria. Today, Nigeria with a population going
competence is difficult and time-taking because of some 200 million (The last controversial census in 2006 put the
psycho-sociolinguistic factors such as the linguistic population figure of Nigeria at 150 million people) is the
dynamics of ESL and the sociolinguistic variables of a leading ESL society in the world. However, complaints
second and/or foreign language environment. “Learning about poor performance in English at all levels are
English can be so cumbersome to learners, unless it is perennial. Students, teachers, and writers show clear lack of
taught in an interesting way utilizing appropriate learning the mastery of grammatical rules and their applications in
resources” (Alobo, 2010, p.124). their performances. Verbal concord is one of the areas in
Indeed, inappropriate teaching methods, lack of creativity which nonnative users of English display incompetence.
and limited linguistic competence of English teachers are Why do non-native users of English easily violate verbal
some of the factors that militate against the effective concord rule?. Verbal concord violation occurs as a result
teaching and learning of grammatical structures and the of interference, ignorance, loss of attention, and
acquisition of native-like competence in English in non- distractions during a linguistic performance,
native settings. English in non-native settings refers to EFL overgeneralization, and confusing English structural
and ESL in the main. An EFL (English as a Foreign Language) patterns. Although Nigerian linguists now accept the
community uses English for such restricted purposes as concept of Nigerian English, which is at present being
diplomacy, individual uses and intergovernmental codified by NESA (Nigeria English Studies Association) and
interactions at the international levels and contacts. China, the International Corpus of English (ICE) Project, verbal
Japan and Saudi Arabia are good examples. In ESL concord rule violation is not accepted as a feature of
settings, also L2 (second language) societies, English is Educated Nigeria English. Teachers and examiners of
used widely as a second language, the official language English find concord errors egregious and annoying. During
of education, government, international commerce, English scripts examining, concord errors are not
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condoned. They are usually ringed or underlined and Richards and Sampson (1984) discuss “systemic
punished. Half a mark or one (1) mark, as the case may be, intralingual errors”, “intralingual interference”, and “internal
is normally deducted for concord and other grammatical language transfer” (pp.1-6). According to them,
errors. From the primary to the university level, different “intralingual interference refers to items produced by the
modules for teaching concord abound. Unfortunately, learner which reflect not the structure of the mother tongue,
however, the time, efforts and methods that are used and but generalizations based on partial exposure to target
repeated over and over again do not prevent learners from language” (p.6). Labov (1994) also argues that the forces
committing concord errors during performance. Against of language change and variation are in language
this background, two mathematical formulas of graded properties and social dynamics. These properties “are in
steps and methods are proposed, presented and the grammar and they constrain the grammar, and they
illustrated in this paper with a view to enhancing the cannot be described” without reference to the grammar.
effective teaching and application of verbal concord rule Further, he asserts that morphological and syntactic
in nonnative English settings. The formulas may also be variables are informed by, “semantic distinctions and/or
found useful in the formal teaching of verbal concord in structural configurations whose development can be
native English settings. This paper is basically theoretical traced in the history of the language” (p.84). Ekundayo
and descriptive, based on library research, the Internet and (2006, 2011) coined intraference, “to denote intralingual
observation of live linguistic events/performances by interference” or “the overgeneralisation of linguistic
educated Nigerians. Examples here are got from textbooks material and semantic features” (2011, pp.1-10). The
and undergraduate scripts. coinage is intended as a counterpoint to interference, that
is interference versus intraference in ESL. It was coined
Conceptual Framework
against the backdrop of three morphemes: inter-, intra-
This paper is based on the concepts of interference and
and –ference, which are productive affixes. Etymologically,
intraference. Interference, also negative transfer, which is
the well-established interference itself is an amalgam of
well established, is associated with the concepts of
two morphemes; inter+ferire, which means for two things to
Contrastive Analysis (CA) and Language Transfer, which are
strike (Funk & Wagnalls, 1975, p. 339).
based on the assumption that second language learners
Intra (being a bound form) has been combined with ferire
have the tendency of transferring the features of their
to have intraferire. Analogically, intra (within) plus (+) ferire
native and/or first language to their second language
(to strike or contact) means to disturb, strike or make two
utterances (James, 1980, p. 14; Crystal, 2009, p. 249).
things contact each other within an entity. So, the
Contrastive analysis treated cases of interference as 'errors'
combination of intra and ferire will result in a clash or
or 'deviations' from SBE norms” and researches and papers
contact within a thing. In the context of this work, it is a
in higher schools and conferences in the 1960s and early
contact within an entity, which is language. The -ference is
seventies used contrastive analysis to predict, “sources of
the noun formation, meaning an internal contact or
errors and deviations in the Nigerian variety of English”
disturbance within, that is linguistic 'intraference.' Ekundayo
(Akere, 2009, p. 5; Surakat, 2010, p. 102). According to
thereafter conceptualizes intraference as follows:
Ekundayo (2006, 2011), “Apparently, the theories and
So, intraference is concerned primarily with
methods failed to examine critically HOW the rules and
(nonnative) language users who do not understand
dynamics of the second language itself make learners
their (second) language perfectly and are said to
produce coinages and variations, an issue which
affect by such psycho-sociolinguistically relevant
subsequent scholars in the turn of the nineteen sixties
conditions as memory limitations, distractions, shifts of
(1960s) took up vigorously” (p. 15). For example, Selinker
attention, interest and socio-cultural context. They are
(1984) mentions “the overgeneralization of linguistic
further affected by the phonological, morphological,
materials and semantic features” in 'interlanguage', (p.37).
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syntactic, semantic and graphological rules, items Greenbaum, 1989). Also, the verb has many forms which
and exceptions that characterize the language, as reflect time (tenses), moods and aspects. It takes several
they apply their knowledge in actual performance inflectional and derivational affixes. These inherent
(p.22). dynamics of the verb enable the intraference of verb
morphemes. Since Nigeria English as a Second Language
In this conceptualization, which is reminiscent of Chomsky's
(NESL) is often studied against the standard of British English,
(1965, p.3) eminent phraseology, two major factors are
Salami in Jowitt (1991) says that all forms of variations in
said affect the competence and performance of second
Nigerian English which cannot be found in native English
language users: the psycho-sociolinguistic, and the
are 'errors of a sort' (Jowitt, 1991, p.29). Verbal concord
linguistic. Now, the psycho-sociolinguistic is an amalgam of
errors are seriously frowned at in Educated Nigerian English
two sub-factors. The first is the social knowledge, context,
(ENE). Consequently, some Nigerian grammarians have
and setting of the speakers. The second sub-factor of the
listed many cases of verbal errors in their textbooks. Jowitt
psycho-sociolinguistic is the brain or mind mechanism of
and Nnamonu (1985) have many of such verb errors.
the users, the way the users view and rearrange language
Ogbulogo (2005, 2009) regards concord as problem
features creatively or ignorantly in their minds. The second
areas in verbs. Similarly, in ENE, according to Dadzie
major factor is linguistic. When a new concept, idea,
(2009):
experience, event, etc confronts nonnative speakers, and
even native speakers of a language, they fall back on the There is the distinction shown between verbs and nouns
dynamics, loopholes and rules of the language and in their syntactic relationships and, in modern English,
(re)deploy them to convey the new experience and this is even more the case as the same words get used
concept. This effort may then generate a new linguistic as a noun or a verb, the category being known only
structure. through function. Thus we have,
The relationship these two concepts have with this paper is 1. (a) Will you chair this section?
that the variations of verbal concord and others in ESL and Where chair is a verb although it is more easily
EFL are predominantly the products of the interplay of considered as a noun. This however is sometimes
interference and intraference. Naturally placed in a carried a little too far as in,
heterogeneous second language community that is far
(b) *Will you chairman this session?
away from a native English setting, educated Nigerians, for
Which is normally unacceptable, but may also be
instance, deploy, manipulate or rearrange the
seen as evidence of NE. Or is it a sign that NE uses this
grammatical rules, and items of English to create new
device {conversion} much more than SBE? The latter
structures or similar structures to some of the established
seems likely, as analogy tends to be an easy way out
ones in the language. This is intraference at work. At other
particularly in second language situations. Hence we
times, interference influences their performances. Most
hear such sentences as,
Nigerian languages, for example, do not have specific
2. *Where did you school? (p.93)
suffixes or morphemes for marking number and verbal
agreement, as in English. So, educated Nigerians transfer Convincing statistics of poor performances and
the noun-verb combination patterns of their languages to progressive decline in the standard of Nigeria ESL users,
English, thereby producing deviations of verbal concord. particularly in phonology and syntax, have been presented
from time to time (Alo, 2005; Alobo, 2010; Agbaje, 2009;
Review of Related Literature
Ibe, 2007). In Syntax, one of the most problematic areas is
The verb is the pivotal structural element around which
verbal concord, which is evanescent and confusing to
other elements are bonded in a sentence. It relates to the
non-native English users as a result of many psycho-
subject by concord and then relates to other predicative
sociolinguistic factors. Asiyanbola (1998), Babalola (1999)
elements by complementation (Crystal, 2009; Quirk and
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and Ojo (2009) also confirm that the verbal group and proposed formula as follows:
forms constitute difficulties to Nigeria Yoruba users of English S–s = V + s, or S+ s = V–s.
as a Second Language. Ojo for instance says:
Alternatively, it can be stated as,
The verbal group is the only obligatory element in the
N-s =V+s, or N+s=V-s.
sentences which confers on it certain peculiarities and
This can be simplified as where 'S' or 'N' has no 's', then 'V' will
restrictions that a second language user of English
have or should have 's' or where 'S'or 'N' has '+s', then 'V' will
cannot afford to ignore. However, what has been
or should not have 's'. What then are the values of 'S,' 'N' 'V',
observed is the multiplicity of errors committed at the
+s and -s? The values or meanings of 'S' is Subject and the
verbal group level. The undergraduate users of English
value of '-s' (minus 's') is singular/singularity or the absence of
are not left out of this, as they do not seem to obey
the plural morpheme and its allomorphs (-s, -es, -ies) in the
simple grammatical rules governing the use of the
noun or noun phrase that is the subject of a sentence. 'N' is
verbal elements, hence the ridiculous nature of their
noun or nominal. The meaning of 'V' is verb and the
errors (p.133).
meaning of V+s is that the verb is singular or has the
Ibe (2007) equally observes that, “the usage of verbs is one
presence of -s, -es or -ies in it, that is that it is inflected with
area where the performance of students (up to the tertiary
the singular morpheme marker. V-s (v minus 's') means that
institution) in this country is rather woeful and continues to
there is no –s, -es and -ies in the verb. In English, plural
get more so…. The level of expression of English of many
subjects are inflected with -s, -es and -ies in the main;
undergraduates (and even graduates) of our higher
hence Subject+s (S+s). A singular subject is not usually
institutions is, to put it simply, unbelievable” (pp.260-261).
inflected with the plural –s, -es or –ies, hence Subject ('S')
The 'epidemic' of grammatical errors has reached even
minus 's' (S-s). Subjects are usually nouns or nominals, hence
scholarly articles for journals, for during proofreading and
N+s or N-s.
assessment, one regularly comes across concord and
Conversely, verbs go the opposite of nouns in marking
other errors. Oluikpe's finding (2007) further shows “a
plurality. While a singular noun takes no -s, -es, or -ies, a
general low achievement rate at all levels of competence,
singular verb takes them. For example, the plural of boy is
particularly grammatical competence” (p.275).
boys (boy+s) and the singular is boy (minus -'s'). Contrarily,
The question is what makes students and other ESL users
the singular form of the verb take is takes, which is V+s, and
often produce deviations of verb forms and concord?
the plural is take, which is V-s. In sentence construction,
Fatusin (2004) fingers the agents of learning, environment
these opposites combine to achieve correct verbal
and society as major causes. As pointed out in the
concord. Verbal concord is the agreement of the subject
theoretical framework, the dynamics of the language,
and verb of a clause or sentence in terms of number and
structural patterns, context and interference make non-
meaning. Accordingly, both the 'S' or 'N' (subject or noun)
native users produce deviations of verbal concord and
and 'V' (verb) of an English sentence cannot contain -s, -es
others. Consequently in this paper, some formulas and
or –ies, or both not having them at the same time, as in
methods have been put forward to be adopted for the
these sentences:
teaching of verbal concord structures, explanation of the
The boys is stronger than the girls. *
nature and dynamics of nouns and verbal concord with
few exemptions and the structural patterns that make non- S+s = V+s
native English users violate the formula and rule of verbal She usually don't go to church punctually.*
concord. S-s = V-s
Discussions These sentences have violated this verbal concord
Verbal Concord Formula formula.
Step one should be the introduction and explanation of the To correct them, we apply the principle of S+s = V–s or S-s
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= V+s as follows: third step in conjunction with concord teaching. The
The boys are stronger than the girls .Ö plurality system of English should be well taught to
nonnative speakers before concord, for some psycho-
S+s V-s
sociolinguistic factors like the way plurality and concord are
She usually goes to church punctually.Ö
taught, the confusing nature of nouns forms, particularly
S+s V-s
mass nouns, and English sentence patterns make
The Grammatical Nature of S+s nonnative speakers produce concord errors. Nouns should
In order to apply this formula correctly, the grammatical be classified into ten (10) groups. Group one (1) should be
nature of S+s/N+s or S-s/N-s and V+s or V-s should be regular nouns which take the well known plural inflectional
understood and clearly presented. While S+s and S-s are morpheme and its allomorphs (-s, -es, -ies,), while group
dynamic and changing, V+s or V-s is fixed, never two (2) should be irregular nouns which take -en and -ives
and undergo internal structural changes like suppletion
changing. What this means is that V+s always has a
and vocalic changes, as in man-men, woman-women,
physical -s, - es or -ies (that can be seen). However, S+s/N-s
thief-thieves, ox-oxen. Group three (3) should be mass
and S-s/N-s is not so predictable. Hence the dynamic
nouns that are regularly treated as S+s/N+s in all contexts
nature of 'S' or 'N' should be explained and understood. The
even though they have no surface '-s'(as in, jewellery,
value of S+s or N+s is plurality and that of S-s or N-s is
police and cattle). Category four (4) should contain mass
singularity. A subject +s, -es or -ies shows plural number and
nouns which are used as S-s/N-s, that is to say that even
S-s indicates that the subject is singular:
though they refer to many collections of its kind, they usually
A B
take singular V+s for concord in most cases, as in
The boys… (S+s/N+s) A boy… (S-S/N-s)
information, advice and news. Group five (5) is a list of
Some churches… (S+s/N-s) vs The church…(S-s/N-s) summation plurals like pliers, knickers, etc while six (6) should
Several flies… (S+s/N-s) One fly… (S-s/N-s) be pluralia tantums such as outskirts, wages, damages.
S+s/N-s can come in two ways. First, “S” or “N” Class seven (7) should be mass nouns which have double
(subject/noun) can manifest with the physical plural plurality that are used in two different contexts, the first
morpheme, as in group A above. Second, “S”/ “N” can having no surface plural marker, and the second form
show without a physical surface structure plural having a surface –s, -es, or -ies marker which denotes
morpheme, but with a deep structure unseen plural plurality and an added meaning of varieties, differences
morpheme. This is where the delicate nature of S+s lies and backgrounds, as in fish- fishes, property-properties,
(See group 3 nouns listed below). Since the value of S+s is people-peoples. Group six (8) should be mass nouns that
plurality or plural number, it means that any subject (S/N) can take either singular or plural concord depending on
that is plural in meaning, whether it has surface structure 's' the context of use; for example, series, species, offspring.
or not, should be regarded us S+s/N+s. Indeed, many Category nine (9) are compound words plurality and lastly,
plural nouns have no surface structure 's,' but are treated as class ten (10) should be words of foreign origin whose
plural and so should be assigned S+s or N+s. Examples are spellings and plurals may constitute challenges to foreign
stationery, personnel and staff: learners. They are presented below:
Academic staff have called off their strike. Group 1: -s, -es, -ies,, -en, -e-, ives plurals.
S+s = V-s S-s/N-s: book, box, fly, wish, texts, etc.
The Teaching of plurality S +s/N+s: books, boxes, flies, wishes, texts:
For the effective teaching, understanding and application The book is on the table. (b) The books are on the table.
of this formula, plurality in English has to be taught S-s/N-s = V+s S+s/N+s= V-s
methodically either as a prelude to verbal concord or as a Group 2: -en, -ives and vocalic/phonemic change.
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N-s: Ox, child, brother, man, woman, thief, self, etc Group 5: Summation Plurals.
N+s: Oxen, children, brethren, men, women, thieves, “Summation plurals denote tools, instruments, and articles
selves. of dress consisting of two equal parts which are joined
together” (Quirk, Leech, Greenbaum and Svartvik, 1985,
Group 3: Unmarked plural collective nouns which take
p.301). They are treated as plurals in all contexts.
plural concord in all contexts.
Scissors, trousers, pants, knickers, suspenders, glasses,
S+s/N+s: the police, the clergy, cattle, swine, deer, sheep,
lenses, boxers, compasses, undies, brassieres,
furniture, folk, poultry, vermin, livestock, the rich, the poor,
pyjamas/pyjamas, braces, breeches, jeans, shots, trunks,
stationery, personnel, jewellery, staff, imagery, machinery,
shades, tights, *shoes, *socks, handcuffs, binoculars,
labyrinth, equipment, livestock, wear, confectionary, the
elite, the intelligentsia, the media, a majority of, a number pincers, tongs, tweezers, scales, clippers, forceps, shears,
of, slang, vocabulary, etc: pliers, etc.
The police have arrested the criminal. The ones that are asterisked are not joined together.
Summation plurals are problematic to second language
S+s = V-s
users, particularly the educated Nigerians of this study.
Group 4: Collective nouns that usually take singular verb for
Influenced by interference and intraference, the average
concord.
educated Nigerian user of English tends to extend the rule
In this category are collective nouns that are treated as
of singularity to summation plurals. In most Nigerian
singular words. Unlike those in group 3, they can take the
languages, a summation plural tool or dress is seen as one,
plural marker in some context to denote types and
not as two parts in one. They are regularly treated as
varieties.
concrete countable nouns, which can take numerals and
a. Singular minus –s but referring to many things or persons other determiners. In Nigeria, a Yoruba or Igbo speaker
as an entity: would say:
Army, board, community, company, corporation, council, a. Mo ra sokoto meeji lo ja lano (Yoruba).
couple, crew, crowd, department, enemy, faculty, chalk,
b. A zutara m traza abuo na ahia unya ahu (Ibo), or,
family, federation, firm, flock, gang, generation,
E gotara m traza abuo na-ahia eche gara aga (Ibo).
government, group, herd, institute, opposition, minority,
The English direct translation of these expressions is,
jury, party, bard, bandit, bundle, population, exam, union,
“I bought two trousers at the market yesterday.” SBE for this is,
queue, the public, the press, society, drainage, incidence,
“I bought two pairs of trousers at the market yesterday.” As a
intake, bundle.
result of this interference mind set, one hears and reads
b. Plural +s referring to two or more groups and varieties of
expressions like the ones below by educated Nigerian
many things or persons as an entity:
speakers:
Armies, boards, communities, companies, corporations,
a. I bought one trouser*
councils, couples, crews, *crowds, departments, enemies,
b. I have ten trousers*
faculties, *chalks, families, federations, firms, flocks, gangs,
generations, governments, groups, herds, institutes, c. Where is my short knicker?*
oppositions, *minorities,*juries, parties, bards, bandits, d. I have a green swimming pant.*
bundles, populations, exams, unions, queues, **the
e. I put three pants on the rope outside.*
publics, **the presses, societies, *drainages, *incidences,
Apart from interference, intraference also influences non-
*intakes, bundles, etc.
native speakers to overgeneralize English plurality rule.
The ones with single asterisk are rare or wrong usage while
Accordingly, singular words do not take the plural
double asterisks are clearly wrong and not used.
morpheme (marker) while plural words do. Nigerians see
32 i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, Vol. 3 l No. 4 l October - December 2013
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summation plurals as plurals. To make them singular, some alms, ashes, grounds, auspices, clothes, credentials,
educated speakers do remove the –s, as in this manners, surroundings, premises, clubs, diamonds, hearts,
conversation: spades (games), spirits, dregs, funds, grassroots, guts,
Speaker A: Please, get me that plier. heads or tails, honours, humanities, the arts, letters,
lodgings, looks, minutes (of a meeting), odds, pains (efforts,
Speaker B: I can't find any plier, but spanners here.
care, trouble), particulars, public relations, stairs, steps,
Speaker A: Check very well. I have two pliers there, a
thanks, troops, outskirts, valuables, savings, wages,
small plier and a big one.
allowances, wits, writings, personal effects, belongings,
The next example is a conversation between two students authorities, species, series, etc.
on campus:
Like summation plurals, interference and intraference
Speaker A: I have lost my eye glass again. equally influence the use of these nouns and their verbal
Speaker B: Again? What is happening to you? How concord in nonnative settings. Most nonnative speakers
many glasses have you lost this year? tend to treat them as singular-plural, the singular being
without –s, and plural having –s, as in these examples:
Many a second language learner has the impression that
summation plurals operate as regular count nouns which a. He is in high spirit.*
do not take plural –s marker for singular. To make them b. On what ground are you doing this?*
singular, therefore, they often drop the –s. However, English
c. I live in the outskirt of Benin City.*
teachers in ESL and EFL societies should take pains to stress
Again, teachers of English as a second language ought to
the potential of interference and intraference in the use of
stress that the +s in these words is part of the normal spelling
these nouns. In SBE, summation plurals take the phrase 'a
and usage. However, there exist the homographs/
pair of' to indicate singular or plural. The –s is retained in all
homonyms of these words without –s, whose meanings are
contexts:
singular and different; for example, look is different from
a. I bought a pair of trousers at the market yesterday
looks, so is spirit different from spirits, even though they share
b. I have ten pairs of trousers. the same base or root.
c. Where are my short knickers? (either singular or plural). Group 7: Collective nouns with Double Plurality
d. I put three pairs of pants on the rope outside. They are like nouns in group 6. Nouns in this class operate
e. My trousers are fine (one or more). two kinds of plurality, one without a plural marker and
f. My pair of trousers is fine (one). another with a plural marker. A good example is fruit/fruits.
Fruit without 's' can be singular or plural: I have some guava
g. My glasses are missing again, or my pair of glasses is
fruit in a plate for you (many guava). He sells fruits at the
missing again.
King's Market (different types). The plural marker in this
Group 6: Pluralia tantums (S+s/N+s) and double plurality
category of nouns often denotes varieties, differences
These are nouns that end with +s in usage and spelling, not
and/or added meanings:
necessarily denoting plural. It may be plural or singular. At
(a) Either singular or plural: property, fruit, fish, oil,
times, in some contexts, the +s may be dropped, and
beverage, food, meat, pain, vegetable, water, land,
when this happens, the meaning of the word changes. For
ground, money, accommodation, character, work.
example damages and amends. Without the +s, they will
(b) Plurals Only: properties, people/people, fruits, fishes,
be damage and amend respectively, which do not have
oils, beverages, foods, meats, pains, vegetables, waters,
the same meanings as damages and amends. A number
lands, grounds, moneys/monies, accommodations,
of them are listed below:
characters, works, grasses, etc.
Damages, accommodations, amends, archives, arms,
Group 8:
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In group 8 are collective nouns which in usage can take come with different inflectional endings to which ESL
either singular or plural verb for concord, depending on the speakers at times arbitrarily apply the regular plural markers,
speaker, the intendeded meaning and context. However, thereby fabricating wrong plural nouns and consequently
they hardly take the indefinite article: wrong verbal concord. A president of an English–speaking
Barracks, craft, crossroads, data, graffiti, dice, gallows, African country said as follows in a television broadcast:
headquarters, innings, kernels, species, offspring, oats, “Let the people design a criteria to score our
mews, means, links, slang, imagery, parastatal, gold, performance.” Obviously in his thinking, criteria is the
information, news, chalk, advice, gold, abuse, incidence, singular form and criterias the plural. This instance is not
intake, wear, issue (child/ren). interference but intraference: the overgeneralisation of the
plural rule or morpheme in English. Other examples are
Again, intraference and interference largely influence the
given below:
way educated nonnative speakers use these collective
a. The criterions are questionable.*
nouns. When nonnative speakers use them to denote a
singular occurrence or place, they drop –s and add the b. We must think of some other criterias.*
plural marker –s when they use them to denote plural c. Many of your datas are questionable.*
numbers, events and places. Also, they regularly use the
English language teachers in nonnative settings should
indefinite articles a and an to premodify them, as in the
take time to teach their plurality and concord. Some of the
following examples:
problematic ones are listed below:
a. I have an information to give you.*
Criterion-criteria, alumnus (male)-alumni, alumna (female)-
b. He is now working at the State Police Headquarter.* alumnae, bacterium-bacteria, ovum-ova, erratum-errata,
c. She has an offspring.* appendix-appendices, cherub-cherubim, seraph-
seraphim, tempo-tempi, bourgeois-bourgeoisie, etc.
d. They have four offsprings.*
The proper teaching and understanding of English plural
e. We need an advice from you sir.*
system, as classified above, will enable nonnative speakers
f. He is a staff*
to select the correct singular or plural as subject and
Group 9: Plurality for Compound Words.
consequently the correct verb.
Plurality for compound words is not a one-way rule. The
In this formula, all nouns in Group 1, 2 and collective nouns
nature of the grammatical elements determines which of
in 3 and any noun that is plural, whether it has a plural -s
the elements is marked for numbers. They come in four
morpheme or not, should be treated as S+s or N+s. Care
ways: plural in the first part of the compound (as in
ought to be taken by teachers to teach, explain and
commander-in-chief- commanders-in-chief, notary
illustrate the two appearances of S+s/N+s, which has been
public--notaries public); plural in the second element (as in
explained. Subjects and nouns with physical +s are not
sit up—sit ups, wristwatch—wristwatches); plural in either
problematic to foreign and second language learners.
element (as in mother-in-law—mothers-in-law, or mother-
They can easily see and understand them. Unfortunately,
in-laws, attorney general- attorneys generals, or attorney
however, their knowledge of the grammatical operations
generals) and plural in the two elements (as in manservant-
of the plural morpheme and its allomorph (-s, -es, -ies) is
menservants, woman leader- women leaders).
often overgeneralized and redeployed to words and
Group 10: Foreign Plurals.
contexts in which the plural marker is unnecessary or
The plurals of foreign words used in English confuse many superfluous, particularly to mass nouns, e.g. jewelleries,
ESL users because they are very many and their plural stationeries, equipments, personnels, clergies, etc as
natures and rules are either regular or irregular, or both plurals. Therefore, a list of all or the major words that are
regular and irregular, or they retain their foreign plurals. They mass nouns which are already inherently plural should be
34 i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, Vol. 3 l No. 4 l October - December 2013
RESEARCH PAPERS
listed and illustrated for L2 and FL learners of English (See The measles are all over the baby's skin *
Quirk et al 1972; 1985; Christopherson and Sandved 1969;
Stylistics are an interesting field of study.
Ekundayo 2009).
S-s/N-s= V-s
The Nature of S-s/N-s
Even though the subjects all have +s, the 's' is treated as
The next step in the application of this formula is the
singular minus –s because it is there as part of the spelling
explanation of the nature of S-s or N-s. S-s means that the
and name of the field or disease, which denotes a singular
subject or noun is singular. Like S+s, S-s has two types of
thing or manifestation.
surface manifestations. There is S-s/N-s with zero 's' (no -s at
Application of the Formula
all), a clear indication of singularity, as in these examples:
This verbal concord formula can be used readily or quickly
A boy…
to correct errors of verbal concord. It has been applied by
That woman…
the researcher to teach verbal concord successfully in
The student… S-s/N-s secondary and tertiary institutions with remarkable success
Our country… since 1998 when it was formulated. Also, it facilitates the
teaching of concord in all its types and senses: concord of
S-s/N-s words that come like plurals are the second type. In
grammatical number, proximity, correlative, notional and
this second category are singular nouns with –s, -es and
coordinated structures.
–ies spelling. Just as English has plural N+s/S+s which do
not have a physical 's' (as shown earlier), there are also S- In proximity concord, for instance, the formula applies to
s/N-s singular words which carry a surface -s, -es and -ies, the second part of the correlative expression, which is
giving foreign learners the impression of plurality. In this class nearer to the verb:
are some names of fields of study, diseases, time, space, (Not only the girls, but also) the boy is in police custody.Ö
monetary measurements and other fixed expressions
S-s = V+s
having plural appearances. Although these words come
(Either the teacher or) his students were informed. Ö
with –s, -es and –ies, they are actually S-s/N-s because they
S+s= V-s
are either practically singular or are by usage treated as
singular; for example, (Either the students or) their teacher was informed.Ö
A B S-s = V+s
Field of Study Infections Contrarily, in structures of quasi coordination, the formula
applies to the farther part of the coordinated items: the first
Maths/mathematics shingles
item mentioned in a quasi structure of coordination is used
S-s
to harmonize the verb and subject agreement. Quasi
Physics S-s measles
coordinated structures use prepositions, prepositional
Stylistics mumps phrases and adverbials (instead of the primary
scabies coordinators and, or and but) to coordinate two noun
phrases (Quirk et al, 1985). Some examples are:
The –s, -es and –ies in these words are not quite plural
morphemes but orthographic. The pastor (with his church members) has left.
The measles is all over the baby's skin S-s = V+s
S-s = V+s The church members (with their pastor) have left
Stylistics is an interesting field of study. S+s = V-s
S-s/N-s= V+s Some students (as well as a lecturer) have confirmed it.
S+s = V-s
i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, Vol. 3 l No. 4 l October - December 2013 35
RESEARCH PAPERS
The villagers (in addition to their king) have been chased out. (i) The Pronoun I and You
S+s = V-s An example is the grammatical rule that informs the use of
a plural verb after the singular pronoun you and am after
The king (in addition to the villagers) has been chased out
singular I: You are, you do, you have…not You is, you does,
S-s = V+s
you has as singular, and I am, I do, I have; not I is, I does, I
The driver of the car (along with five passengers) was rescued.
has, as singular. Following this formula, 'singular you ought
S+s = V-s to take 'is' and plural you plural ought to take 'are', as it
Five passengers (along with the driver of the car) were rescued. correctly does:
S+ = V-s You is looking beautiful.*
Our Vice Chancellor (in company of his Deputies is here now. S-s V+s
S-s = V+s You are looking beautiful.
For notional concord where the collective or mass noun Native usage treat the second person pronoun you
that is the subject is sometimes treated as singular or plural, differently. It takes V-s (are, do, have, were, etc) for concord.
depending on the context and the meaning the user There is no difference between you singular and you plural
intends to convey, the formula can be applied either way: in native usage. The context of usage indicates which is
plural or singular. Thus if we order someone: You come here
Nigerian government are irresponsible and corrupt.
now! 'you' here is singular. But if we order three men: You
S+s = V-s
come here now! 'you' is plural in this context. To nonnative
Here, the notion or idea that necessitates the use of
speakers, this may be confusing. Some new Englishes, like
government are…is the focus on officers, tiers and arms of
Nigerian English, have a grammatical way of marking
government.
plural 'you' from singular 'you'. Usually, educated Nigerians
Nigerian government is negotiating with the so-called rebels. add an extra word, a noun or noun phrase to pluralize 'you':
S-s = V+s You men should come here (plural).
In this second sentence with government is…, the focus of You should come here (singular).
the user is on 'Nigerian government' as an entity, a unified
You students are mischievous (plural).
whole.
You are mischievous (singular) or
The audience in the auditorium was a large one.
You are a mischievous student.
S-s = V+s
You people have to leave now (plural).
The audience in this context is seen as one group in the
You have to leave now (singular).
auditorium.
(ii) Some fixed expressions violate this formula, as in the
The audience in the auditorium have split into rowdy groups.
following examples:
S+s = V-s
a. As sure as eggs is eggs, not As sure as eggs are eggs.
In this example, the audience are not united or behaving
S+s V+s S+s V-s
as a unified group any more. Focus is on the splits and
b. Many 's the abortion she has done (Ö) instead of
individuals that form the audience.
S+s =V+s
Exemptions to the Application of the Formula
Many are the abortions she has done. *
There are very few exceptions that do not conform to this
formula of verbal concord, as all formulas usually have their S+s V-s
exceptions. In some expressions, the rule of S+s =V-s or S-s c. Till death do us part (Ö) instead of 'Till death does us part' *
=V+s is violated at the surface structure.
S-s = V-s S-s V+s
36 i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, Vol. 3 l No. 4 l October - December 2013